Japan volcanic island smouldering and growing

This handout picture taken by Japan Coast Guard on July 23, 2014 shows the newly created islet and Nishinoshima island, which are conjoined with erupting lava at the Ogasawara island chain, 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo. A smouldering islet off Japan's Pacific coast has grown six times in its land surface since before it merged last December with a landmass created by volcanic eruptions. -- PHOTO: AFP

TOKYO (AFP) - A volcanic island off Japan's southern coast continues to smoulder with lava flowing from its craters into the sea, new aerial images showed on Friday.

Nishinoshima, some 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo, joined up with a small volcanic islet formed in November and the new mass now measures 1.26 square kilometres around, the Japanese coastguard said.

The agency's images showed a few craters on Nishinoshima spewing columns of smoke 1,500-2,000 metres high as molten lava flowed into the sea, sending clouds of white steam into the sky.